BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – Former Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State, Rev John Joseph Hayab has urged Governor Nasir el-Rufai to concentrate on making Kaduna State peaceful and prosperous by delivering fair, unbiased, and equitable leadership, rather than being at war with almost everyone who holds a differing view from his.
The CAN leader, who was reacting to a statement credited to el-Rufai in which he accused the Vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Peter Obi of being a tribal bigot, said there is the urgent need for the Kaduna State governor to go and look at himself in the mirror.
He pointedly said that el-Rufai should not assume that the silence of many indigenes of Kaduna State and other well-meaning Nigerians over his actions is a sign of weakness or that the people are ignorant of the high level of polarisation that his leadership style has brought to Kaduna State
Rev Hayab in a statement made available to Forefront News on Sunday noted that happenings in Kaduna State for over three years now, especially some recent statements by el-Rufai, exposed him as a leader that takes pleasure in making bad and inciting comments about others but unable to bear or reason that his leadership style is worse than those he is quick to accuse.
Hayab further said that when some Christian leaders some years back complained about how el-Rufai made mockery of Jesus on his Twitter handle, they were alleged to have deliberately accused him of such a recklessness for political reasons, adding that it is now clear that such inflammatory comments are el-Rufai’s trademarks.
According to Hayab; “Since el-Rufai became the Governor of Kaduna State, many of his utterances have been either to insult or denigrate some individuals or group of people.
“Although, I am not from the South-east of Nigeria, but a visit to Awka and meeting with the people on the streets of Onitsha shows that, the man el-Rufai wants Nigerians to believe is a ”bigot”, led Anambra State with an exemplary leadership style of tolerance and the promotion of peaceful coexistence unlike el-Rufai, who has polarised Kaduna State with divisive actions and inciting utterances.
“My dear Governor, el-Rufai, you cannot go to the social media every now and then making divisive statements about the population of our dear state, only to come back to accuse other Nigerians of being bigots.
“For you to have the moral right to accuse others as bigots, you need to check and reexamine yourself in the mirror to ascertain if you are not worst off.
“It is public knowledge how you have threatened Shiites, SOKAPU, and even the Nigerian Army aside from those who hold different political views.
“My investigation shows that when Mr. Peter Obi was Governor of Anambra State, he worked peaceably with three Commissioners of Police from Northern Nigeria including Alhaji Amusa Bello, Gwary Usman and CP Leha.
“In comparison to Mr. Obi, please, el-Rufai should tell Nigerians how many heads of security agencies in Kaduna State during his tenure were/are from the other parts of the country?
“From el-Rufai’s utterances and actions, one becomes skeptical if anyone from another part of Nigeria other than the core north could work as Commissioner of Police or Head of DSS in Kaduna without the Governor asking the authorities in Abuja to transfer such with immediate effect.
“My dear Governor, please stop your divisive and distractive statements and actions and look inward to remove the speck from your eyes before attempting to help remove the splinter in others,” the former CAN Secretary stressed.
He noted that el-Rufai had not lived in Anambra, yet is accusing someone from Anambra of stewardship, adding that el-Rufai should be truthful to himself and to the people of Kaduna State by admitting that he is not Nigeria’s bigot-in-chief.
Hayab observed that unlike el-Rufai, the people of Anambra State said that Mr. Peter Obi is one of those exemplary Governors who left his state financially better off than he met it in addition to leaving his state peaceful and united.
In his words; “Can we from Kaduna State rate el-Rufai in
the same way? Without any fear of contradiction, a majority of Kaduna State people are of the view that Governor el-Rufai should focus more on his duties as a leader of the state and stop busy bodying and poke-nosing into the affairs that have little or no link to the administration of our state.
“The undeniable truth is that the Governor el-Rufai’s actions and utterances about people and situations both in the state and elsewhere have further impaired the peace we once enjoyed in Kaduna.
“Going by what one of the Governor’s former bosses once said, it is now glaring how el-Rufai’s temperament and maturity to lead at any level should be questioned.
“My candid advice to Governor el-Rufai is that he should stop pointing leprous fingers at others and, instead, take a hard look at the mirror as his utterances, poor political equations and decisions that have heightened suspicion and distrust, a development that is condemnable and unfortunate,” Hayab stressed.
